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Lawsuit filed in US against AirAsia, Airbus over December crash

US aviation lawyer Floyd Wisner has filed a lawsuit on behalf of 10 families of passengers aboard an AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea in December last year.

PHOTO: REUTERS

US AVIATION lawyer Floyd Wisner has filed a lawsuit on behalf of 10 families of passengers aboard an AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea in December last year.

AirAsia Flight 8501, an Airbus A320, was travelling from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore when it crashed in bad weather, killing all 155 passengers and seven crew on board.

However, preliminary investigations have found that while weather was a factor, the aircraft suffered a malfunction of the fly-by-wire system, Mr Wisner, the principal of Chicago-based Wisner Law Firm, said in a media statement on Tuesday morning.

The lawsuit, filed in the US state of Illinois, names Airbus, Honeywell International, Motorola Inc and other suppliers as defendants.

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"Airbus and its supplier manufacturers are aware of problems that cause the fly-by-wire protection to malfunction, yet they appear to have done nothing about it, despite many incidents," he said.

He also criticised AirAsia for offering families just half the amount of compensation being paid to families of other recent air disasters, and said the airline will be made a party to the US litigation.

He said: "AirAsia is not handling the claims of its passengers pursuant to international standards, but is treating its passengers differently to those on MH370, MH17 and Germanwings.

"Despite the promises of AirAsia's owner, Tony Fernandes, that the victims' families would be treated fairly, AirAsia is proving that it is a low fare, low compensation airline."

Mr Wisner said many families in Indonesia and a few other countries have spoken to him and he expects more to join the case.